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The Civil War's Impact On Southern Culture Is Depicted Through The Experience Of A Young Physician Turned Warrior

LAKE FOREST, Ill., Oct. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- When the American Civil War broke out, a young Maryland physician named James Breathed was forced to choose between healing the sick to prolong life or supporting the South as a soldier in the Confederate Army. He made the difficult decision to fight.

Professor and Historian David P. Bridges brings the story of Breathed—the author's great, great uncle—to life in a historical novel, The Broken Circle. More than a report on one man's heroism, personal conflict and survival, it depicts the impact of the war on the agrarian culture of the South and its bedrock principles of faith in God, family values, hard work, community, self-government, and ethics.

The battles, locations and dates in The Broken Circle are all historically correct. Professor Bridges accurately incorporates the details of the weapons, culture, language, clothes, food, and even the furniture of the Civil War period. The characters and their dedication to the South are based on real people, including Mollie Macgill, a woman romantically involved with Dr. Breathed. She becomes a daring spy for the South.

The author, raised and educated in Chicago, was inspired by his Southern lineage to write The Broken Circle and several non-fiction books about his prominent ancestors and their way of life.

"My intention is to shed some light on what was really happening to the South during this important period in American history," says Bridges. "The aristocracy was destroyed along with the prosperity, spirituality and much of the charm of the old South."

Breathed served in the horse artillery and fought gallantly in many battles under the command of J.E.B. Stuart. After the war, he returned to his medical practice and, before his death at age 32, treated all patients regardless of which side they supported during the conflict. Just this year, he was posthumously awarded the Confederate Medal of Honor for his achievements.